Memory Lane
by ChibiRaccoon
Summary: Years have passed. A typical day for Ran becomes, for lack of a better word, wierd when she expieriences a strange occurance of memory flashes that lead her to her answers. RanxShinichi.


_Title:_ Memory Lane

_Genre(s):_ Romance/Supernatural(sorta)

_Pairing(s):_ Shinichi/Ran

_Summary: _Years have passed. A typical day for Ran becomes, for lack of a better word, wierd when she expieriences a strange occurance of memory flashes that lead her to the realization and surprise that she's waited for after 4 years. But is she ready to forgive the one that left her alone? Fluff by the dozen.

_Status: _One-shot

_Author:_ ChibiRaccoon

_Disclaimer: _Detective Conan and all related characters do not belong to me because if they did, Heiji and Kaito would appear more to torment Shinichi just for fun, Heiji and Kazuha would hurry up and admit their feelings for another, and Gin would die a horrible gruesome slow and painful death. They belong to the mastermind Gosho Aoyama.

_Italic_ is thoughts.****

**_Bold/Italic_** is flashback

_Memory Lane _

One hand gripped the large handbag as the other reached over the counter for the steaming cup. She turned from the cashier girl, heels clicking on the tiles. Chocolate hair cascaded down her back and lifted slightly as she exited the coffeeshop. Full pink lips let out a sigh of an unidentifiable something. She continued down the sidewalk, eyes shielded, hidden by her unruly bangs.

After glancing at the subway station and deciding it was too crowded at the moment, she turned to the next street over, the bus stop in view. Crackling hissed menacingly overhead but she gave it no notice. Situating herself comfortably on the metal bench, she sipped her decaf black carefully.

Ran Mouri was 21 years old. She worked within her mothers lawfirm, fulfilling the expectations of everyone as the next Eri Kiwasaki. Her father, Mouri Kogorou was a praised Detective, still solving a few cases here and there as he finally learned how to behave with his wife and not to overlook anything in a crimescene. Ran was happy her parents had gotten together again. It seemed as if her attempts had really had an effect and Ran was proud of herself for never giving up. The only thing that had greatly saddened the soon-to-be lawyer was that Edogawa Conan had left for America when Ran had been accepted into a prestigious college. The good-bye with him had been the hardest thing for Ran. She hadn't wanted to let go of the boy that had given her so much.

She hadn't seen him in years. She often found herself thinking about him. He had been so much like Shinichi, that it almost scared her. And it had at some instants.

Thinking about him brought back memories of him kicking a football around, just like Shinichi. Always watching her...just like Shinichi always had...always...

****

_**"...Because of the construction in the surrounding areas, the gym was the only place left. And besides, I saw you looking at the stage earlier today." A pint-sized Shinichi concluded, dribbling the football with his feet. They were walking home together from school. Ran had been playing hide and seek and gotten stuck. No one had been able to find her, so everyone was surprised that it took Shinichi only a minute or two to find his best friend underneath the school stage.**_

_**Ran walked behind him amazed by his deduction. **_

_**"That's amazing Shinichi!"**_

_**The boy stopped long enough for her to walk up beside him.**_

_**"You must watch me alot huh Shinichi? You're always looking out for me." She smiled at him.**_

_**"What are you talking about? I was just able to deduce that you'd be under the stage that's all!" He turned away from her, giving off an aura of indifference.**_

_**Little Ran smiled more. "You're blushing Shinichi!" she accused happily.**_

_**"Idiot! That's just because of the sun!" he protested, finally turning to look at her, and making Ran scream at the emptiness of his face.**_

Ran's eyes shot open when she heard the rumbling of the bus round the corner. She watched it stop in front of her as if it were some sort of foreign object she'd never laid her eyes on, almost like a frightened puppy. But after the impatient noise by the driver, Ran scrambled on, paying the fare and settling into the back seat of the near-empty vehicle.

Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm herself down. It was just a random flashback that was all. Nothing to be worried about. Nope. She stared out of the window, watching people in the shops, the cars racing by, the bookstore...

Her eyes never left the bookstore.

****

_**"Come on Ran! If we don't hurry they'll be sold out!" **_

_**A 13 year old Ran struggled to keep up with a racing 13 year old boy who was determined to make it to his destination without a moment to lose. Gasping, Ran grabbed his arm for support when she'd finally caught up. **_

_**"Sh-Shinichi! The bookstore is going to be open all day! Why are you rushing?" **_

_**The boy didnt' look at her, and she couldn't see his face from where she was. All she saw was his impatient bouncing for the lane crossing light to change. **_

_**"Shinichi," she began, a threatening note in her voice. "Will you just tell me why you're trying to break the speed of sound before I knock you into the pavement. The boy turned to her and Ran gasped. **_

_**His face was blank. It wasn't there. **_

_**"Because Ran, that new mystery novel is comin-" **_

**_She didn't listen to what he said. She just stared. Stared at the blank face that should have been her best friend._**

Ran blinked. Where was she? She blinked again. The bus was slowing down on Norumi street. Her stop. Breathing heavy, and trembling slightly, Ran stood up as it came to a halt. She stepped onto the pavement, ignoring the sounds of the leaving bus, and began walking towards her apartment.

Thick clouds rumbled in the sky. Ran didn't want to look at them. She had a feeling she'd space out again if she did.

Unfortunately for her, the sky was being persistant today. Lightning cracked and Ran's head shot up.

"Rain..." she murmured distractedly.

****

_**"Ran! Let's go!" an impatient Sonoko called out. Ran didn't pay any attention as she smiled down at a figure in the soccer field. She held her umbrella tighter when her best friend tried to tug her away but to no avail. **_

_**"Fine. Keep watching your man. I'm going on ahead." Ran blushed scarlet turning, but before she could retort, Sonoko was half a mile away, giggling madly. Ran sighed and turned back to her earlier fascination. **_

_**Sitting on the wet field, covered in mud and bruises, soaked from head to toe, was Kudo Shinichi. She could see his chest rising up and down quickly as he allowed to rain to pour on him. A soccer ball rolled a few feet away. **_

_**Ran made her way to his side, stifling a laugh. "You look like a drowned rat." she teased. Shinichi turned his face to her, and once again, instead of the sheepish grin she had expected, his face was blank. **_

_**No mouth. No nose. No pair of translucent blue pools that she had always lost herself in. **_

**_Just nothing._**

Ran cried out, her vision clearing despite the tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked at the metal plate with the numbers 0.5.4 on her front door. For a few minutes, she stared at the numbers, almost in a daze. Sweat had formed on her forehead and her brows had furrowed.

_'What's happening to me?'_ She thought. _'I must be going crazy. Or m-maybe it's just the stress from work. Yeah. I haven't been sleeping so well because of that Tadaishi case...that's all...'_

There was no way that her mind actually believed such an excuse, but her mind had countered that at the moment, that was the only explanation. With a shrug, she fished her keys from the handbag and entered her home, shutting the door with her foot. She hung her jacket, scarf, and a pair of worn baby pink mittens with a diamond design on the wooden coat rack that branched out. Her eyes lingered on the gloves for a moment and she found herself once again in the familiar stream of memories.

_'Not again...' _she thought, irritated.

****

_**Ran blew and puffed out air onto her hands in a futile attempt to warm them. Her legs ached from standing against the wall for so long and her cheeks were flushed from the cold. Despite the weather, she continued to wait outside the gate of the large house that her best friend lived in. **_

_**Something clicked behind her and Ran turned to see the lights on in the house. **_

_**"Shinichi?" she called, making her way through the gate and past the front door. She walked into the foyer, hand sliding on the stair banister; the Kudo residence was scary when it was quiet. **_

_**Lights flashed and then everything was engulfed in darkness. The Kudo house was even scarier when it was dark. Slightly frightened, Ran called out again, a note of uncertainty in her voice. **_

_**"Shinichi..?" **_

_**She started when a warm hand enveloped the top of hers and she looked to the side. It was difficult but the Karate champion was able to make out the unmistakable outline of her best friend. **_

_**"Sh...Shinichi..." **_

_**"Hey Ran," he greeted. "I'm back." **_

_**Tears sprang up. "Oh Shinichi..." **_

_**"Moron, don't cry!" he joked. "Is that how much you wanted to see me?" **_

_**"Wh-Who? Me?**_

_**Following in the pattern of her other visions, when Ran tried to get a look of his face, but was horrified to see that, even in the darkness, his face wasn't there. **_

_'Have I forgotten Shinichi's face?' **she thought sadly. **'Is that why everything's like this?'_

_**"Oops. I've gotta go. I still haven't finished that case I was working on." Shinichi responded gently and took his hand from her's. She immediatly noted how much colder it was without him. **_

_**"Wait Shinichi!" **_

**_The house's electricity flared and Ran, alone, gazed at the stairs. A brown paper bag with a note and ribbon awaited her. She picked it up and smiled at the sight of the cute and soft mittens inside._**

Unable to keep the tears from rolling down her face, Ran gripped the frame of an old and tattered photo that was on the coffe table. She was there. A young 17 year old Ran standing beside a faceless young man. Sobs broke out and the only reminder of once was fell to the ground, glass shattering.

It was wrong. It was just so wrong. How could she forget Shinichi? Her childhood friend? How could she lose sight of what was once the most important thing in her life? Her Shinichi...

Sobbing and hiccuping, nearly choking on her tears, Ran fell into a crumpled heap. She cried and cried. Cried until there were no more tears left and only a colossal headache that made it nearly impossible for her to move.

Unsure of how long she sat there, wallowing in self-pity and just letting her body get all of it's sorrow out of her system, Ran thought of him. Not Shinichi, but Conan. And she hadn't any idea why.

_**"It's okay Ran-neechan. Tou-san and Kaa-san want me to go to this really good school in America and well..." **_

_**Ran was looking at Conan, who had his head bent down. A suitcase towered beside him ominously and the background was a large noisy airport. A shaky smile crossed her lips as she bent down. **_

_**"I know Conan-kun. But I'm gonna miss you." Ran had wrapped her arms around the smaller boy, trying to hold in her tears as she felt her adopted little brother do the same and whisper. **_

_**"I'll...I'll miss you too Ran. Nee-chan." He had added the honorific as an afterthought. Ran could have sworn she heard bitterness in his voice when he'd uttered it. But she shook it away as nothing. **_

_**Ran bit her lip. It was getting to be an almost impossibe task to keep herself from wailing. "Promise you'll write?" she asked. She felt him nod. Satisfied, Ran gripped him tighter. And then... **_

_**She cried. Hard. **_

_**And even though he didn't show it, Ran knew, knew Conan was screaming and crying inside just as much as she was. **_

_**"I love you Ran."**_

The blaring of the alarm clock made her grumble and moan, one hand flying out from underneath her comforter to smash the snooze button. A mess of brown hair peeked out of bed, followed by the still sleepy face of Mouri Ran. It took her a few moments to wake herself up, but when she did, her mind remembered all of her dream's occurances.

_'That was pretty scary.' _she thought, heading for the bathroom. _'Forgetting Shinichi's face would be horrible. And I'd never for-'_

Her mind stopped short when she caught sight of her living room. Her eyes roamed over the broken glass on the floor and a picture frame nearby with the picture halfway out.

She stood shock-still. _'Oh god...It wasn't a dream!'_

Slightly scared, Ran left the mess where it was. She took a quick shower, grabbed a snack from the kitchen, and hurriedly left the apartment and barely remembering to lock the door behind her.

Her legs took her to a nearby park. She was familiar with the area and to ease her nerves, she bought a mint chocolate-chip ice cream cone from a nearby vendor.

"Ugh. Since when did my life get so comlicated and wierd?" Ran asked the sky, which was clear today. _'Ever since you met Shinichi.'_ her mind answered.

"Then it's been like this my whole life I guess."

Taking a walk in the park, and slowing licking her dripping, but very yummy, ice cream made Ran feel alot better than she had been that morning. She wasn't even too freaked about all the flashbacks she'd had.

"Just goes to show, ice-cream can cure anything!" she giggled.

Heading further, she noticed a white dove nearby and nearly squealed. Nearly. She hadn't seen one in years! And it was so beautiful, as white as newly fallen snow in winter.

"Aren't you a pretty little thing..."

"Doves are supposed to be all white, but you'd be surprised how often the common pidgeon gets mixed into the fray." someone told her humorously from nearby. A familiar someone.

Frozen to the root, Ran only had enough energy to turn her head ever so slightly. What she saw made tears spring into her eyes.

"Shinichi..."

The grin on the man's face widened as he walked forward. "Sorry but, wrong guy. The name's Kuroba. Kuroba Kaito, Miss...?"

Aware of her gaping resemblance to a fish, Ran was able to stammer her name. "M-Mouri Ran. I'm s-sorry Kuroba-kun. You just happened to look alot like someone I used to know." A blush had plaqued her face by now. How embarrasing!

Kaito chuckled. "I get that alot surprisingly." He held an arm out, and the dove from the tree flew down and onto the proferred limb.

"Is that your dove?" Ran asked. She was having a hard time keeping her eyes off Kaito's face. There were a few things she noted about him that helped her realize what a mistake she'd made.

"Yep." he answered. "Her name's Kuromi. Affectionate and loyal. My best dove."

Ran watched the dove coo softly, breast moving up and down with each new sound.

"Interesting..."

Ran looked back up at Kaito. "What is?"

Kaito gazed at Ran. "Well Mouri-san. Kuromi tells me that you should go down that path over there." he pointed to his right, where a dirt path winded. "Says you may find your answer."

"My..my answer?"

"Yep." came his short reply. Ran looked to where he pointed. She wasn't too sure about going. Trusting a stranger wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do. She turned back to Kaito...

...Only to find that he was gone.

"Who...was he?" she whispered onto the wind.

The karate expert followed the trail that the mysterious stranger had insisted she take, finding herself in a clearing not too far. Sakura trees waved to her, their foliage covering the ground like a pink blanket. Despite her uncertainties, she had to admit it was a pretty picture.

"Do you...like it?"

_'Shinichi...'_ For some reason, it didn't surprise her to know that he'd be there. Her answer? Only one person could give her that, and he was standing behind her at the moment.

Ran spun around, heart already racing and breath coming up short.

_'W-wow...'_

Kudo Shinichi was a grown man now. A very handsome grown man. Still very much like his seventeen year-old self, but he was taller, and a bit thinner in the face. Ran locked her blue eyes with his. And there it was. An answer.

The eyes that looked at her weren't like the ones she remembered. The ones she remembered were full of inteligence and boyish mischief. The ones she was staring at now were defintely intelligent, but a little more hardened, as if they'd seen things that they never wanted to expierience again. She couldn't see Shinichi's face anymore, because she didn't know his face anylonger. It had changed. Changed just as she had.

Wasn't she supposed to be angry? No calls in years. Not a shred of information on what he'd been doing. Always just a "..I'm working a difficutlt case." Well if that was the problem, why was she responding to him as if nothing was wrong?

"Yeah I...really like it."

"I'm glad...to see you're doing okay Ran." He gave her a shadow of his former smile.

"...Are you?" _'Dammit!'_ she cursed at the crack in her voice.

He nodded faintly. "I missed you."

'Shinichi...you...'

"Well I...missed you too." she said. And that's all that was needed.

End

My first Detective Conan oneshot. Actually finished. I'm so happy!

I actually got the idea for this from a nightmare I had. Scary. By the way, this is dedicated to Jojoangel01 because her fanfiction, 'Back where he Belongs', inspired me so much that I was able to get back into writing. This did take me awhile, but that's because I've been so busy with school.(I'm a senior now! Boo!)

Please read and review, I'd love to hear from you. Just no flames okay? (BTW: I don't have a Beta reader nor spell check so I'm sorry. I tried my best!)

Thanks everyone! I'll check out your review on Friday because I don't have internet access on the weekdays right now.


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